COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — "The Heartbeat of Cleveland Baseball Games" now has a rightful home in the sport's Holy Land.
The drum belonging to the late John Adams, one of many he banged from the bleachers of Cleveland Indians games for more than four decades, is now on display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The proud percussion instrument sits in the Guardians' franchise locker inside the museum, which includes other timeless artifacts from the club's history.
A former drummer for the Parma Senior High School marching band, Adams first made his mark on Cleveland fans on Aug. 24, 1973, when he took a brass drum into the Municipal Stadium bleachers for an Indians game against the Texas Rangers. He would beat it to the tune of an 11-5 Tribe win, and over the ensuing 46 years would give life and sound to more than 3,700 combined contests at both Municipal Stadium and Jacobs/Progressive Field (missing only 45 home dates in the process).
Through good times and bad for the ballclub, John was always there, and his exploits never went unnoticed both locally and nationally. Unfortunately, 2019 would be his final season in the stands, as first the COVID-19 pandemic and later his own health problems kept him away from the place he loved most.
Still, Adams remained the team's official drummer for the remainder of his life, and in 2022 the now-renamed Guardians inducted him into their Distinguished Hall of Fame. Later that October, he appeared one last time on the video board to bang his drum prior to Cleveland's postseason game against the Tampa Bay Rays, which occurred less than four months before his death at the age of 72.
Since his passing, Adams has been honored countless times by the organization, including with a statue of his drum in Heritage Park and a jersey patch worn by Guards players twice during the 2023 campaign. This past August, on the 50th anniversary of his first game, the team announced they would be renaming the Progressive Field bleachers in Adams' honor.
According to the Guardians, Adams' drum will be displayed at the Hall of Fame "for the foreseeable future."